Helicopter Ferns
Marsilea
Marsilea is a genus of approximately 65 species of aquatic ferns of the family Marsileaceae. The name honours Italian naturalist Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (1656–1730).
These small plants are of unusual appearance and do not resemble common ferns. Common names include water clover, four-leaf clover, and clover fern because of the long-stalked leaves which have four clover-like lobes and are present either above water or submerged; however, these plants are not actual clovers (genus Trifolium).
18 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Marsilea group
complexMarsilea group
Nodorhizae group
complexNodorhizae group
Macrocarpa group
complexMacrocarpa group
Group i
complexGroup i
Marsilea strigosa
speciesMarsilea strigosa
Marsilea batardae
speciesMarsilea batardae
Burchells' Clover
speciesMarsilea burchellii
Windowed Water Clover
speciesMarsilea fenestrata
Capensis group
complexCapensis group
Marsilea apposita
speciesMarsilea apposita
Nubica group
complexNubica group
Marsilea latzii
speciesMarsilea latzii
Marsilea quadrata
speciesMarsilea quadrata
Marsilea unicornis
speciesMarsilea unicornis
Marsilea cryptocarpa
speciesMarsilea cryptocarpa
Marsilea megalomanica
speciesMarsilea megalomanica
Marsilea subterranea
speciesMarsilea subterranea
Marsilea aethiopica
speciesMarsilea aethiopica
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Marsilea in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 60116.